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watchful eye on cemeteryBy ELIZABETH STUDEBAKERGAZETTE feature writerForty-one years! That’s how long Elno-ra Bates has served on the Board of Trustees for Cherry Grove Cemetery. And. for the past 22 years, she has served as its secretary.The 7-acre cemetery on West Second Street, originally a “colored burial site, was chartered in 1864 so that persons of color might have a cemetery in their neighborhood about one and a half miles from the city. During hard times ElnoraometownBates virtuallv ran the cemetery. As sec-retary, she shows plots and works with lot owners along with all the paperwork.Before retiring in 1995, Elnora worked in Xenia Community Schools in the cafeteria 32 years, spending more than 20 years at Cox Elementary School. DuringWorld War II she worked as a clerk-typist at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The mother of three daughters — Bernadine Frances Augustine of Las Vegas, Rose Marie Kelly of Cleveland, and Linda Ann Lindsay of Montclair. Va., — she was left a widow when her husband died in 1957. Master Sgt. Ralph Bates served both in World War II and the Korean War. All three of her daughters are college graduates.Elnora has lived in Xenia since 1936 when she moved here from Dayton. She’s described as a kind, generous and sharing person to her neighbors and friends. She cares for one neighbor, for example, taking her to medical appointments, shopping and running other errands for her. Besides her family, cemetery work and being a good neighbor. Elnora finds time for Alpha Pi Chi Sorority of Xenia and Wilberforce; John Roan American Legion Post #517 Auxiliary: and to volunteer at Fish Pantry.She attends First Baptist Church, Jamestown, and is active in its Mission ary Society. Of course, she takes her neighbor along.
Newspaper Details
Xenia Sunday Gazette
Xenia, Ohio, US
Sun, May 28, 2000
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Greene C.
OH, USA 04 Oct 2021
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